Refusal to assist Sandilands’ Families efforts to appoint a New Inquest

Neil Garratt: Following up on your responses to questions 2021/3905 and 2021/4519, how can you—as Mayor of London and TfL Chair—reconcile your statement "TfL is committed to doing all it can to ensure that an incident like this never happens again. I share this sentiment" with your refusal to (a) make any public statement in support of the Sandilands families’ public protests about the inquest decision, and (b) write a letter to the Attorney General in support of the 5 Sandilands families’ request to appoint a new inquest, when you took such high profile public positions in favour of a new Hillsborough Inquest, a tragic event over which—in stark contrast to Croydon Tram and Sandilands—you had no political oversight or decision-making authority?

The Mayor: I refer to my previous answers. This is essentially a legal issue about the role of a coroner in cases where there has been an investigation by a regulatory body and is very different from the circumstances relating to Hillsborough. There is nothing else that I can helpfully contribute to that process and I await the Attorney General’s decision as to whether she considers it necessary or desirable that another inquest should be held.TfL and I remain committed to doing all we can to ensure that an incident like this never happens again and that is the case regardless of the decision of the Attorney General.